The UN’s global criminal court prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant for the Taliban leader for persecuting women
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court of the United Nations Announced on Thursday that he sought arrest warrants for the two top leaders Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban regime For crimes against humanity against the group Treatment of women and girls.
Prosecutor Karim Khan said that after a thorough investigation and review of the evidence, his office had found “reasonable grounds to” hold Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and the group’s chief judge, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, “criminally responsible for the crime against humanity of gender-based persecution, “According to the treaty established by the ICC, known as Rome Statute.
Khan said his office concluded that both men were “criminally responsible for the persecution of Afghan girls and women, as well as individuals who the Taliban saw as inconsistent with their ideological expectations of gender identity or expression, and individuals who the Taliban perceived as allies.” Girls and women.”
The statement said the alleged crimes were committed between “at least” the Taliban in August 2021 “to the present day,” across the country.
“This ongoing persecution entails a number of grave fundamental rights of victims, contrary to international law, including the right to physical integrity and autonomy, free movement and expression, education, private and family life, and freedom of assembly,” Khan said.
There was no immediate reaction to Khan’s request from the Taliban leadership.
Of Regain control of AfghanistanThe Taliban have imposed a long list of harsh laws targeting women and girls. The measures saw women pushed out of public life and drew condemnation from much of the international community, including allegations of gender-based apartheid.
Under the pretext of Islamic Sharia law, the measures denied girls and women formal education from the age of 12, the right to visit public parks or travel alone, or even to see a doctor, unless accompanied by a male captain.
Last month, the Taliban imposed a ban on women training to become midwives and nurses – another devastating blow to a country that already has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. According to the World Bank, 620 women die for every 100,000 live births in Afghanistan due to pregnancy-related complications.
Akhundzada recently ordered that windows in houses overlooking areas used by women, such as kitchens, courtyards or water wells.
Elizabeth Evenson, Director of the International Justice Program in New York
Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Thursday that it hoped the ICC request for senior Taliban figures would put the group’s “systematic exclusion of women and girls from public life and targeting of LGBT people on the radar of the international community”.
Evenson said Taliban-based repression had “accelerated with total impunity” since the summer of 2021, and that “without justice in Afghanistan, warrant demands offer an essential path to accountability.”
She also called on the ICC prosecutor to rescind his decision “to desist from investigating abuses by former Afghan government forces and US personnel” who have been based in the country for two decades. The probe into the actions of American troops was Started by Khan’s predecessor.
Khan said the request for international arrest warrants underscores the ICC’s commitment to holding those responsible for gender-based crimes accountable, with more arrests and charging warrants for other senior Taliban members expected to follow the Court’s investigation into the situation in Afghanistan.
“The judges of the International Criminal Court will now determine whether these requests for arrest warrants establish reasonable grounds to believe that the named individuals have committed the alleged crimes. If the judges issue warrants, my office will work closely with the registrar in all efforts to arrest the individuals, “said Khan, adding that, “as in all situations, I ask the parties to fully cooperate with the court and assist it in enforcing any court order.”
While the ICC has the power to issue arrest warrants – and has done so recently For both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuthe country’s former defense chief and senior Hamas leader – it has no means of carrying out such orders on its own.
It goes down to individual countries that are signatories to the founding treaty of the Court to decide Will they take wanted individuals into custody at the ICC, as well as when they enter the territory of that country.
The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, so it is not obligated to detain anyone on the orders of the ICC.
Even if the ICC issues warrants for Akhundzada or other Taliban leaders, it is highly unlikely that they would attempt to visit any country where they could risk arrest. Almost the entire world has refused to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan following their rematch of control over the country.
Khan himself faced accusations that he tried to coerce the female helper into having sex for more than a year and dragged her in against her will. He categorically denied the allegations saying “there is no truth to the suggestions of misconduct”. ICC officials said the allegations may have been made as part of an Israeli campaign to suppress intelligence.
